


My Half; Missing

by kyojinouji



Series: Half and Half [1]
Category: Attack on Titan, Shingeki no Kyojin, aot, snk - Fandom
Genre: Bike Shop- AU, Coffee Shop- AU, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Jean's POV, M/M, Multi, Occasional angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2014-08-12
Packaged: 2018-02-12 18:52:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2120904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyojinouji/pseuds/kyojinouji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bicycle shop worker becomes friends with a cafe waiter. What lies beyond, who knows?<br/>Honestly this is just a super cliche excuse for a coffee shop, college, AU, jam packed with dorky college freshmen, a dash of angst, and topped off with some serious fluff-and-stuff.<br/>This is the story of two friends slowly coming to terms with how to balance their internal struggles with those that are physically evident.<br/>(Jean's POV)</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Half; Missing

**Author's Note:**

> Ah I promise these will be longer as time goes on!  
> This is my first fic, so I'm really sorry for any mistakes. If something bothers you about it, please tell me!  
> Anyways please enjoy, this is Jean's POV of the 'Half and Half' series.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really just an introductory chapter so sorry if you were expecting more!!  
> Also I'm still trying to figure out the entire process of indenting my paragraphs so for a while they may seem a little wonky.

Waking up and realizing that you are not only 15 minutes late for work, but also that you’ve missed the single running bus in town by just five is one of, if not the worst, emotions one can ever inflict upon themselves. It all started with me trying to finish an entire English paper the night before it was due. I honestly could have done it sometime earlier in the week, I’m not gonna try and lie about that; but seriously the Breaking Bad marathon was on AMC and there was no way in hell I would ever pass that chance up. The English paper had to do with something about the analysis of Oedipus and all I could think of to say was how genuinely messed up that entire scenario is. I have to admit that I feel pretty bad for the guy though. The whole ‘swollen foot’ for a name? Yeah kid, tough luck. I guess if I really sympathized for him I could have put more effort into the body paragraphs that wasn’t some bullshit about what I was having for breakfast.  


Looking at the clock I remind myself that I’m already late and there probably isn’t enough time to put in contacts. I throw on a hoodie and grab my glasses case before pushing the door opening and rushing out, leaving me with my current problem; how do I get there? Connie’s skateboard is no doubt being used by him and I haven’t given in to asking my dad for money to buy my own car yet. He’s already paying for my tuition fee and to ask him to spend more on me would destroy my pride. He’d be ecstatic to flaunt his money while helping his ‘precious’ son but that would only fuel the fire that he has burning under his ass of things to hold against me later on in life. No thanks.  


Somewhere in the back of my mind something small clicks and I recall the bicycle that Erwin gave me as thanks for working so hard. I almost am relieved until I actually uncover that bike and remember the few tiny details. It’s bright pink, sparkly, and has those glittery streamers hanging from the ends of the handlebars. And I don’t know how to ride a bike. It was something I felt like I’d never need to know, afterall I’ve always lived in this town. It’s small. Small enough that there are maybe two-thousand people here, tops, and there really never was anywhere to ride a bike. It actually wouldn’t be that difficult to walk to the shop. Literally, it’s just across town and I could be there in maybe twenty minutes. But, I’m already late and the odds of Erwin putting up with a bullcrap excuse about me staying up too late would probably be the final nail in my coffin.  


“That old man better appreciate what the hell I’m about to do.” I prepare to ride the glittery steed, I try and recall all of the things we tell the kids that are trying to learn. ‘Make sure you wear a helmet’; It’s evident that Connie doesn’t own one of those, hell, he probably wouldn’t recognize one if it hit him upside the head. ‘You need knee pads’; I can handle a scraped knee. ‘Know your signals’; got it. Straddling the bike, I prepare for liftoff but it doesn’t budge. At all. Goddamnit.  


About three minutes into my battle I realize that I never released the kickstand. Another three minutes pass and I’m awkwardly trying to pedal and concentrate on keeping the bike from toppling over onto the concrete. And I’ll be damned, you really do need knee pads to ride one of these shitty things.

\-------------------------------------- 

I’m almost an hour late by the time I get to work only to be greeted by a panicked Erwin and a hysterical Connie.  


“Dude! Where have you been? Erwin has been freaking out since like 8 o’clock.” Connie stands beside the bike rack, oblivious to the monstrosity I had to ride over here. His red-polo seems loose on his scrawny frame and his thick rimmed glasses look misplaced, as if neither would ever belong to him. And of course it’s the latter.  


“Stop taking my stuff, asshole,” I grumble plucking at the red material. “Last time I checked you had twenty-twenty vision.”  


“Keeping tabs on your prince charming?”  


“Dream on, lover boy. And I would have been here if someone woke me up. How’d that one go over your head?” As kids, I would almost always wake up to a bald monkey sitting in the corner of my room playing whatever handheld was popular at the time. His parents were workaholics and being his closest friend they would walk him over early every morning so we could get on the bus together. We never broke the habit, even when we moved into the duplex together. At least until these past few weeks we hadn’t.  


“Sorry man. My mom called again last night, she said Dad is just getting worse. She wants me to come visit.” His father has always been a heavy drinker, even after they told him that he had approximately five years to live if he didn’t fix his addiction. Flash forward five years and you meet a man who suffers from cardiomyopathy, cirrhosis, and whose life is obviously coming to an end.  


My heart feels its beating slows dramatically as a chill runs down my back. “Oh my god, Connie, I’m so sorry.” I notice him attempt to crack a smile as he turns away from me. He offers me a light laugh along with quiet reassurance, “He’s a strong guy, Jean. You and I both know it.” He starts back into the store insisting that Erwin will probably cry out of relief when he sees that I didn’t get into an accident along the way.  


Dying in an accident would have probably been so much better than dealing with my boss’s airway crushing hugs and long winded lecture about the importance of doing schoolwork in a timely manner. The rest of the day passes quickly without many customers, which isn’t unusual on a Tuesday. As we begin to lock up the store I remember my mode of transportation, and the Connie-Erwin duo notice as well. “No fucking way, you actually rode it?” Connie’s dumbfound expression must be priceless to our uptight boss as he doubles over, near to tears.  


“Of course I fucking rode it, it was a gift.” This only makes Erwin laugh harder. A single hand comes off of his knee as he glances up at me, fresh tears making his eyes glisten.  


“How about we go for coffee and I’ll drop your stuff off at your duplex?”

\-------------------------------------- 

The truck pulls to a stop in front of is a small brick building facing the fountain at the center of the circle. The fountain is located in the literal middle of the Sina shopping district. Everything from tree lightings to festivals are held around here. As kids Connie, Sasha, and I used to go on shopping trips with our parents and sit in the fountain. It pissed them off when they would find their kids soaking wet with their pockets full of pennies but they almost always took us to the icecream parlor afterwards. The parlor was probably the best in town, but closed after the old man that owned it died. About a year ago this cafe opened in its place, now owned by a short guy named Levi and his girlfriend.  


Upon entering the cafe, the scent of coffee and cinnamon is strong enough to make me gag. I’ve never liked anything that was sickly sweet. I’m more of a half-and-half kind of guy, nothing too sweet and nothing too bitter. A loud squeal knocks me from my thoughts as a brunette suddenly plows into me. The aroma of vanilla invades my personal space and she envelopes Connie and I into a tight bear-hug. “Oh my god! I’m so happy you guys are here. I need help proofreading my essay for class.” I groan internally and try to wriggle out of her grasp. “Jean, I don’t ask you for, like, anything! Help me out here.” Scratch that. I groan vocally and she pulls back only to stick her tongue out.  


“Sash, why can’t you ever do anything on your own?”  


“Because, I’m an actress, not a scholar. That’s your thing.” She splays her arms out only to hit one of the other waiters. “Sorry, Marco! Anyways, you guys sit anywhere, okay? I’ll be with you in a few.” The vanilla invasion disperses as quickly and it intruded as she hurries back into god knows where.  


“Some girlfriend you’ve got there,” Erwin almost seems uncomfortable after having witnessed such an interaction. He evidently hasn’t ever met Sasha, a feat I sometimes wish I was capable of accomplishing. “She seems cute.”  


“She’s not dating either of us, though Baldy over here dreams that she’ll one day notice him, “ Almost instantly Connie transforms from tanned farmer boy to harvestable tomato, a medical mystery indeed. “And either way, Erwin, you’re about 30 years too old for her.” This brings forward a low laugh, but his demeanor still seems uncertain.  


We take a seat close to the window and the same boy that Sasha nearly ran over brings us each a ‘daily specials’ menu. He must be new, given the fact that I’ve been in here probably a thousand times but not once have I met him. His dark hair is parted down the middle with an undercut, the kind you see on the kids that go to private schools and that go on gold outings with their fathers. He’s incredibly tan with a fuckton of freckles dusting across his face and down his neck. Hell the kid even has some that run onto his arms. I wasn’t even looking for them, they’re just out in the open and really hard to miss. I hear him clear his throat as if he’s not used to speaking to people quite yet and almost jump nine miles into the air.  


“Sasha should be right over to take your order.” He closes his eyes as though he wants to say something else, but he shakes his head slightly and proceeds to walk back to the counter. Suddenly Erwin speaks up for the first time since we sat down.  


“Excuse me, Marco, correct?” Marco seems like he’s about to shit himself when Erwin uses his name before bringing a hand to the nametag pinned to his apron.  


“Yes, sir?”  


“Is Levi around?”  


“He is. Would you like me to get him for you?”  


Apparently relieved of whatever tension that was holding him captive, he nods. “That would be wonderful, thank you.” Marco scurries away, still clutching his nametag.  


“Are you and Levi in some kind of business alliance together or something?” Again the light chuckle comes from somewhere low in his throat,  


“Or something.”

\-------------------------------------- 

Sasha stopped by to take our orders, leaving with nothing but requests for a black coffee, a chocolate-strawberry parfait, and a double scoop mint cookies & cream cone. As soon as she’s gone the owner comes out of the kitchen, complaining under his breath that he doesn’t have time to visit customers during such a rush. As the door swings closed I catch a glimpse of Marco apologizing profusely. Levi doesn’t look up until he’s almost to our table, but once he sees Erwin he seems almost confused. The confusion breaks into joy as he quickens his pace the remaining steps. “Erwin? Oh my god it is you. What are you doing here? When did you get back?”  


They hug for mere seconds before breaking away and keeping the conversation going. Erwin goes into a long explanation that he got back a little over a year ago and that he now owned the bike shop near Second Street. This seems to hurt the smaller man as he kicks off into a rant about Erwin waiting so long to tell him. It isn’t until I catch the words ‘It was better this way’ that I decide it’s time for Connie and I to leave. I feel as though we’ve just eavesdropped into something that we had no control over.  


“Erwin, hey, we’re heading out. Sasha is going to drive us to the school. Would it be alright if you dropped our stuff off at the duplex?” He only has time to nod before their conversation starts up again, this time with Levi taking over my now unoccupied seat.  


It isn’t until we’re in Sasha’s truck that I have time to truly think about things for a few seconds while the landscape passes. Even over the sound of the idiots next to me bickering over the radio station, I begin to think that my leftover icecream looks a lot like those stupid freckles. Or it would if it wasn’t melting all over my hand and a really sickly green color.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm going to try to update at least every other week.

**Author's Note:**

> Marco's POV should be up soon as well. It will be titled, "His Half; Found" so keep a look out for it.


End file.
